A person claiming to be a Canadian barrister has threatened to sue Boing Boing over a post about a Canadian family that refuses to return an expensive digital camera they found while on holiday in Hawaii.
This weekend, I blogged the story of Judith, who lost her camera while on holiday on Hawaii, and of the unnamed Canadian family that found it, but refuses to return it because doing so would upset their son, who has grown attached to it.
Shortly after that post, I got an email from someone who claimed his name was “Don Deveny,” purportedly a Canadian Barrister of a sort called “Queen’s Counsel.” “Deveny” implied that the post was illegal and that I was liable for making it.
However, I don’t believe that “Deveny” is a lawyer. For one thing, he can’t spell “lawyer.” For another, he doesn’t know the difference between “libel” and “slander.” He can’t even spell “counsel.”
I have contacted all of the law societies in Canada that license barristers to practice. None of them have any record of “Deveny,” nor does the Canadian Law List. No one under that name is listed in any Canadian phone directory as a practicing attorney.
This is illegal. Falsely presenting oneself as a lawyer is a violation of provincial laws like Ontario’s Law Society Act. As Lisa Hall, Acting Manager, Communications and Public Affairs for the Law Society of Upper Canada explained to me, “We could prosecute him on the basis of the Act. If he’s trying to practice law, that’s quite something. On conviction he’d be liable to a fine of not more than $10,000.”
What’s more, “Deveny” has even offered to represent other people that Boing Boing has written about, adding a new offence. Click the “More…” link below for a complete record of our correspondence, including the headers on his emails.
Click here for a text-file containing the full text of “Deveny”‘s emails, with headers.
Click here for a Google’s list of pages that contain the string “cyberwarrior@rogers.com,” the email address used by “Deveny.”
Click here for a profile for a user on the CanadaKA site who gives “cyberwarrior@rogers.com” as his email address, and who lists his name as “Dave Thomsen,” his residence as Toronto, Canada, and his profession as “Network Manager.” (screenshot) (Update: This page has been updated overnight; the realname is now shown as Cory. Refer to screenshot for original.)
Hello doctorow,I am sure that you must have have proof that this camera wasstolenand that you just would not be accusing someone of something thatyou know nothing about ? I am a lawer and am interested infindingout your response please respond as I am interested in finding outwhat proof you have.RegardsDon Deveny Queens council2006-02-18--You're a lawer? Nice to meet you. I'm a ritter.Cory--Hello Cory Doctorow,Great, as a fellow Canadian I am sure that you are familiar withCanadian Laws and I would remind you that liveing in Great Britaindoes not put you beyond Canadian jurisdiction. I would suggest thatyou keep that in mind in reguards to any further comments you mayhave in reguards to this story.Best regards, Don Deveny QC(QC = QUEENS COUNSEL)--You got through law-school without learning how to spell "liveing" orwhether "Laws" is capitalised, huh?Cory--Hello Cory Doctorow,Do you really feel that my spelling ability has any thing to dowith slander ?Best regards,--You also managed to get through law-school without learning thedifference between libel and slander?Also, you managed to miss the part of the libel statute that requiresthat a plaintiff be referenced in a way that is identifiable?Also, you managed to not register on the rolls of the UCLS?Cory--Hello Cory Doctorow,As Queens Council in Canada I would be more that willing torepresent anyone in Canada who is named on your site in adeflamorty way. please respond with any further enquiries todondeveny@gmail.com please keep in mind that any furtherresponses will be archived for future litigation.Don Deveny QC.Best regards,--Hi, Dan -- where are you licensed to practice? If I wanted tofollow up with one of the law societies in Canada, which oneshould I contact?Cory--Hi, Dan! I've been in touch with the law societies fromPEIBCAlbertaUpper CanadaQuebecNova ScotiaYukonNunavutNewfoundlandAs well as the Canadian Law List and none of them have anyrecord of you being licensed to practice law. I'll be callingthe four remaining law societies from Sask, Man, NB, and NWT inthe next couple hours as their offices open. I've also got a callinto the Canadian Bar Association.Is it likely any of them will have heard of you?Cory--To follow up on this, I've spoken to all the remaining lawsocieties and none of them have you on their rolls.I'd be interested in any comment you have about yourlicense-status. Are you licensed to practice law in Canada? Ifso, in what province or territory?Thank you,Cory--You must have so much time on your hands, Of course the easiestway for you to find out would be to publish the name of theperson in question. Don--Hi, Don -- is that your only statement on this?What province or territory are you licensed to practice law in?Cory--Please be advised that all of our correspondences has beenarchived including the correspondence to my throwaway emailaccount and in my opinion they are starting to display a patternthat would not be beneficial to your position in the event offuture litigation. Don
Update: Brett sez, “On the lost camera
blog, one of the commenters (‘phantomca’) has been questioning the
story, with similar disregard for correct spelling, and when asked
identified him or herself as ‘a lawer in Toronto’.”
Update 2 Jeff points out that an eBay user called “phantomca” recently placed bids on the sort of memory cards that would have been used in Judith’s stolen camera. It may be a coincidence, but if “phantomca” and “Dan Deveny” are one iin the same, then this might mean that the reason “Deveny” is so bent on intimidating people who report on this story into silence is that he’s the thief. Looks like these are different from the memory cards used in camera after all.
Update 3: This may be a picture of “Deveny.” It’s from a message posted by a user of the Leoville site who uses the same userid as in the CanadaKA site above, and lists the same personal sites in his signature. (screenshot, screenshot with detail) (Thanks, Bob!)
